As another sunny week draws to a close, I am sitting at my desk with award ceremonies on my mind.
On the one side, am looking back to last Friday and the inaugural Insurance Marketing & PR Awards. On the other, I'm looking forward to next week, when the insurance industry celebrates one of its biggies, The British Insurance Awards, and we also get to celebrate one of our other financial sector specialities when Investment Week presents their Fund Manager of the Year Awards, also being hosted at the Royal Albert Hall on the following night. Then, later in the year, we are proud to now be helping Legal Week Magazine with their own British Legal Awards.

Apart from the slight concern on behalf of my liver & kidneys that it’ll be two nights back to back at the events next week, it does serve as a reminder of the high professional standards the sectors we support strive to achieve and the pride that is rightly felt by those that ultimately gain recognition. The cynics amongst us are often quick to play down their importance, but for me, when I see the pride of those receiving awards and whoops of delight from their colleagues in the room, it fills me with a professional privilege that we get to work with a group of clients and people within them that care passionately about their businesses and strive every day to be the best of themselves.

We are proud to support them, love the diversity of designs we have created, congratulate all the winners and give an equal call to all of those entering for being proud of what they work hard to achieve.

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Here’s a small reminder of last week’s IPMRAs - you can even play Spot the Team!

With only a few day to go before BIBA 2015 takes place, quite how this event comes around so quickly is one of life’s mysteries in the events calendar year. Manchester has become the spiritual home of BIBA and with it now having been there for the last two years, all attendees - both visitors and exhibitors - have really become familiar with the venue and this great city.

We are very happy to be supporting twenty clients again at this year’s event - some as part of their regular marketing plan and some as first-time exhibitors. All have very different requirements and needs from their time spent at BIBA, but one common need is very much evident this year - maximising their return on investment and to lay ‘markers’ to evaluate the success of their participation.

Evaluating the success of a trade event is no easy task. In a service-based industry, where relationships are developed, nurtured and renewed over a longer period and where no single outcome is evident, attributing singular results to an event is not easy. But the fact is that they are an essential part of the year's ongoing communication with potential clients, a captive and immensely valuable market – and all in one hall. So how do you evaluate?

A balanced level of assessment can be made and measured, albeit varying to your own priorities and targets. This can be brand presence and exposure - data capture and footfall, entries to on-stand games and engagements, numbers of attendees at stand events such as drinks receptions, or a new product launch.

The focus for our clients this year varies depending on these criteria; from visually impactful stands that are very much brand-focused, to more themed designs where specific product pushes and demonstrations are being promoted, and to inviting spaces where welcoming receptions are planned – all of which make for some great designs which we are very much seeing come to life. And all of this in a 48-hour build time.

So the countdown is on, trucks are loaded, our team of nearly 100 including stand builders, AV specialists, project leaders, graphic installers, and film and camera crew are ready to go. Roll on BIBA 2015 and we look forward to seeing you in Manchester!

We were proud to be asked by Incisive Media to create the design theme for Post Magazine & Insurance Age's inaugural Insurance Marketing and PR Awards. See our previous blog.
It is excellent to see the hard work and efforts expended by the insurance marketing and communication communities recognised in this way, we are therefore equally proud to be a supporting sponsor of the event.

Congratulations to all those shortlisted! We are very much looking forward to being at the Grange Hotel, St Paul’s on 26th June to raise a glass (or two) to the winners!

We and the bookmakers still have a while to wait until this year’s British Insurance Awards winners are announced at the annual awards gathering at the Royal Albert Hall.
But the shortlist is out and as proud supporter, design partner and sponsor of the event, we would like to pass on our congratulations to all those who have made the list.

We have proudly worked with Post Magazine over the last five years, developing and delivering the themes for their hugely prestigious British Insurance Awards (BIAs).
This year, we are giving a nod to our own favourite film director Quentin Tarrantino with the "Top Dogs" theme.

2015 sees Post Magazine and their sister publication Insurance Age launch a brand new awards event, the Insurance Marketing & PR Awards (IMPRA). We were therefore delighted when they asked us to create its theme, including the Award Logo. Of course, it just had to be all about Fresh Thinking.

We believe both designs bring a positive vibe for the insurance industry and hopefully put a smile on people's faces.

As the Design Partner of the BIAs and a Sponsor of the IMPRAs, we will be there on the day when the awards are given out, so wish all of you entering good luck!